Bilene, an all-time favourite
It is its proximity and its immense island-style beauty that will bring you back to Bilene time and again.
The 13km-long lagoon of Bilene, with its shore dotted with beach bars and seafood taverns, is the ultimate playing field for light motorboats, jet skis, catamarans, canoes and paddle skis.
The town of Bilene is an active hub for curio hunting, lined with sidewalk cafés and lakeside eateries offering the best in local seafood and fish fresh from the nearby ocean or the saltwater lagoon’s excellent prawns, also for sale from local fishermen and vendors.
Bilene, and further along the lake, offers a host of accommodation options, ranging from basic self-catering thatched huts to the luxury of San Marthino Beach Club, Nghunghwa Lodge and Praia do Cossa. Popular amongst the well-heeled youth from Maputo, downtown Bilene always offers quite a buzz over weekends from which one can escape to one of the many beach resorts in town or further along the shoreline.
The street market, cafés and the bakeries offer a good selection of liqueur, well-priced in comparison to South Africa, fresh produce and freshly baked pao – the traditional Portuguese bread. Beachwear for sale and lovely colourful sarongs actually makes packing a bag for Bilene totally optional.
